codamedia

If your external exp pedal has a dead spot on the pot it will fool the the Helix (momentarily) into thinking nothing is plugged into the EXP2 jack. That is causing the internal pedal to shift to EXP2.. .then back when it is passed the dead spot. I know this because I built a 2 jack toggle system with fixed values to use in the EXP2 jack. When NEITHER of my toggles are engaged, the helix does not think anything is plugged into that jack so it shifts the internal pedal to EXP2... at that point I can manually control the values with the internal EXP pedal. As described, I use this to my advantage in my setup... but I can see how it would just be a pain in your scenario. You might be able to fool the system... try this. (I have not tested this... so I don't know if it will work or not) Open your preset Rock the external pedal until it kicks the internal over to EXP2 Now press the toe switch to EXP1 and save the preset. In theory, that should store the internal to EXP1 and it shouldn't shift on you anymore. NOTE: If that works I suspect you would have to do this on every preset you use it on.

I agree with the others... lowering the mix is how I like it as well, but I'm not so sure it's 100% accurate when you do it that way :) Keep in mind.... there are more than 25 Crybaby variations in the marketplace.... do you know exactly which one you own? IIRC, the Helix has at least 3 different Cry Baby models... unless one is your model, it will not sound the same, just similar. TearDrop 310 (Dunlop Crybaby fasel 310) Fassel (Dunlop Crybaby Super) Weeper (Arbiter Crybaby)

@Line6Nelson and @rwhite137 Great info provided from both of you.... thanks for the insight. One Last Update from my end for this thread. I opened the OP's original preset once again for some more tests based on this more recent information about the Texas Cali Amps.... When I raised the bass to just 0.1.... the preset DID NOT fade away after 3 hours (I actually let it run for 6 to test) When I lowered the bass on the amp back to 0... the preset FADED around the 3 hour mark as it had previously. With the preset producing zero volume.... all I did was raise the bass to 0.1 and it brought the preset back to life... just like reloading the preset. @havkayak ... Please read the very helpful posts provided about the Texas Cali amp, and please see my findings in this post. If you re-submit your problem (and preset) to Line 6, and get them to focus on the "Texas Cali Amp" with "Bass at 0"... I am sure they will take it seriously and try to find a fix. In the meantime, I can't see how raising the bass to 0.1 would effect the tone of your preset... surely you can put the unit through it's paces at rehearsal and hopefully gain back the confidence to take it to the stage.

I only play at gig volume :) Not exactly true, but yes - the tones I am talking about are at gig volume. Don't underestimate the power of a "subtle" compression... you do not have to hear a compressor for it to be doing it's thing. When it's subtle you don't really hear it, you feel it... and that is what I am after. The feel will include a little "smoothing" and "sustain" without actually hearing any compression. It should be worth noting... this works with the gain levels I use, which are not that high. If higher gain drives are used I suspect it could become very noisy and a bit of a mess. At that point, the only comp I would ever use is the Studio Comp at the end of the chain, never a stomp comp.

FWIW... When I use a Stomp Comp I always put it after my drives. I don't like to put a comp between my guitar and my overdrives.. that's the most dynamic/soulful point of interaction. Placing it after the drives smooths the tone, but leaves the interaction in place - huge tonal palette. Placing it before the drives make the interaction less dynamic, almost "monotone" for lack of a better term :) That's just my approach, it's not meant to be a "right vs wrong" way of doing it :)

The LA Studio near the end of your chain is the trick. It smooths out the tones while leaving the attack in place. Once those peaks are smoothed out you can play a little more aggressive, and the sustain comes more naturally. When a "studio style" comp is placed toward the end of the chain, the effects and amps are open to the dynamics of your playing. You still get a refined tone, but very interactive and dynamic. Another option to the LA Studio is the 3 Band Comp... FWIW... I run the LA studio comp "always on" near the end... then only add a stomp comp near the beginning when I need that "pop / squish" effect. Some funk, some 80's pop, some 90's country, etc...

Bryan Adams "Summer of '69"? That's not clean! Just sayin'.... Bryan plays a VOX AC30... and it is breaking up, not heavily, but it is breaking up! Keith Scott is the lead player.... hard to say what he plays for amps on that song in the studio... live he played Marshalls and/or Hiwatts at that time but was not clean. As for that arpeggio part with the keyboards... it's the same tone as the intro guitar chugs. An AC30 turned up to get some edge. Attack it with a single coil guitar in the bridge position. Add some LA Studio Comp near the end of the chain. Sweeten to taste with reverb and a touch of delay. Even the keyboard tone in that part is not clean... it's a tone based on a sawtooth wave which has a natural "soft crunch" to it. IMO... Stay away from chorus.. it will muddy up the tone. If you really want to add something there make it really subtle. Try the "mod > legacy > dimension", set all SW switches to off, then blend it in accordingly. It provides more of a "studio quality" chorus than any of the stomp effects do.

Is this meant to suggest the Fractal "doesn't" need to be tweaked? The internet never disappoints with misinformation.

This is how I approach it with the IR Block. If an IR is cutting too much volume, I simply increase the output level (on that block) to compensate. Keep it all on one block.. makes it easier to bypass or swap it out later without trying to remember where you compensated the added volume. Were those instructions specific to the Helix? There is an output level on the IR block for a reason... and when you add an IR block on the Helix it defaults to -18 (IIRC).... there is no harm in raising that to -10 or even 0 if needed. Adding a gain block "after the IR" or using the output level on the IR Block is going to do the exact same thing. Why use an additional block.

Can great tones be had from a Helix without meters? YES, proven time and time again. Can great tones be had from a Helix with meters? YES, proven time and time again by those that connect to a Board or DAW and monitor the meters those provide. IMO: I don't need a speedometer to tell me if I am going to fast or too slow. BUT - it often saves me from speeding tickets. I don't need a thermometer to tell me if I am too hot or too cold. But rather than throw logs on the fire and open the windows until I feel right, it nice to get the temp to 72 and know I will be immediately comfortable. That's what meters are all about... quick reference for general usage. NEEDED? No! CONVENIENT? Yes, I like them. If you don't agree with my opinion I have no problem with that! IIRC... the delay on getting a really accurate tuner was due to the nature of how graphics were handled on the Helix. The update that gave us a good tuner (including a Strobe) should be more than capable of providing a decent meter block!

Please record the noise and post it. IMO... between 3:00 and full you will hear hiss regardless of having a preset loaded. That's "really loud"! BUT - you may be experiencing something different. Without actually hearing it, or knowing the actual noise levels, we simply don't know.

In my world, the OP (opening post) is the case :)

And more than one of us did confirm your preset had a problem. Then I built your preset from scratch in both Native, and on the Unit itself. Both presets DID NOT suffer the same problem. Those are my findings... as you have clearly stated, my opinions were not asked for so I'm sorry I provided those without your request! Most of us are enthusiastic Helix owners/users, not fan boi's... not part of a fan club. Some are hobbyists, some weekend warrior, and some are professional musicians. We help those that have problems with the unit. We do not have a problem confirming a bug... and most of us here admitted your preset contains some sort of bug, regardless of how it got introduced into the system. As "users" we like to help people through there agony... and we find ways to "successfully" work around those problems (even when they don't ask for help)... but we also defend the unit from ridiculous accusations and claims.

Regardless of the amount of overdrive/distortion/gain used.... volumes should be kept "at or near" equal whether the effect is on or off. The amount of gain is irrelevant... it's the overall volume that matters. IME.... a lot of gain "may" sound louder than it really is. I always underestimate the level of my higher gain presets and adjust them to low to begin with - only to turn them up more in the band setting.

Pretty sure he means "headphone volume". Any audio device turned up that loud is going to have hiss/noise. Amps, stereos, ipods, etc... etc.... However... as stated above, why are you running it that loud! For most presets, that would take out eardrums. Playing at relatively normal volumes will not induce any noise.

@havkayak I will try, one last time to help you! The patch that I created from the images in your OP works fine. It does not go silent after 10 hours let alone 3, let alone 30 minutes, let alone 30 seconds. You need to ELIMINATE YOUR COMPUTER from any processes you are doing by building your preset on the Helix. Don't even connect the Helix via USB during the procedure. This is the only way we can eliminate your computer and/or HX Edit from causing the problem! This advice has been given to you several times during this thread. You appear to completely ignore it... and never acknowledge it. That is really, really frustrating to some of us!

Nice feature when you think about it :) Seems to be, looks like this....

There are a lot of posts here I would like to "react" to, but the forum tells me I am "out of reactions" for the day. That's censorship! Unacceptable! Why would Line 6 do this to me? Anyone want to buy a Helix?

In short, you have read enough negative comments about the Helix to convince yourself that your one little "niggle" is just the start of worse things to happen. I suspect the vast majority of stuff you have read has already been resolved... but that won't matter. The damage has already been done to your perception. IMO.... you are seriously depriving yourself from a fantastic piece of gear over fear of fear. That's too bad!

Yep.... Brian May has 6 VOX AC30's on a Queen stage. He uses two at a time.... when one of the first pair dies the crews slides in the 2nd pair.... if one of those dies the 3rd pair is rolled up. According to Brian, they reach the 3rd pair regularly in an evening. Brian May does not stop using AC30's because they are unreliable.... he knows what to expect from his amps and he has learned how to work around it. The OP's problem is much easier to work around, he just refuses to do it. Even if I don't understand that choice... it is his to make.

There is no shortage of pro's using the Helix in Studio's and Live around this world on any given day! I don't know who you are, but I suspect their gigs are every bit as important as yours. Are you suggesting the likes of John McFee, Cory Churko, Billy Sheehan, Richie Castellano, Steve Howe, (and hundreds of others)... don't care about reliability? I highly doubt that! Your comment about amps and pedals misses reality. Most guitarists I know carry a spare amp... just in case. I always carried two amps... and nowadays with a modeling setup I carry a spare modeler. Nothing has changed in how I approach things, just the style of gear has changed. As several people have asked already.... have you built your preset from scratch, on the Helix itself, without being connected to HX Edit? Until you do that, your computer and/or HX Edit could be the fault and the reason Line 6 or others can't reproduce it from scratch.

There are not enough +1's available for this statement!

When the user can't handle it a Ferrari doesn't look so good when it's wrapped around a tree either! Back to a musical comparison.... :) Take a beautiful JCM800 1/2 Stack, and give that same amp to three players. The first will make it sound like a basket of moquitos The next will make it sound like a muddy undefinable mess The next will get a glorious tone out of it It's not the tools....

I'm with you on meters... but I'm sorry, I don't agree with this statement. I don't dig through any mediocrity on the Helix.... I bond well with this wonderful machine. If you are describing the presets and shared presets as "mediocre to bad".... well.... YEAH! Please don't tell me you are counting on presets for tones? I have NEVER found a preset that would make me happy, and I would NEVER expect one of my presets to make someone else happy!

Then I guess you don't use your PC or MAC or ANDROID or iPHONE, or "insert computerized device here" either? If you are using any of those then you DO know how to work around things that "might happen" at any given moment :) If you have lost faith, so be it! When I lose faith in something I sell it off and move on. When I am pleased with the next item - I know it is ONLY because I don't come across a bug that effects me, not because it doesn't have bugs that could occur at any time. Let's be clear.... your preset ALWAYS takes 3 hours to begin it's deterioration on my machine! It has NEVER taken less time! I think 3 hours is closer to the truth than anything else you are posting! Why are you on the user forums if you have no intent of accepting our assistance? Why did you ASK US TO HELP! Your agenda is clearly to shame Line 6 support.... I wish you had made that agenda clear from the beginning so I could have ignored this thread, you, and your problem.